Mary229

I don’t think you are a newby. I think you need to call your TA or HAL and have that adjusted. Others have received extensions due to their concerns with Covid.

@seaoma You see the rules changed.

I think you need to reread the rules of the FCC. Once issued they are generally good for one year from date of issue. Also reread the rules for cruising with HAL. At no point have they said these were permanent, that have always said until such date or for the foreseeable future. You still have options.

HAL gives you the option to cancel for a full FCC for any reason up to 30 days prior to sailing. Rules are going to change, they have been changing since the beginning of this event. What we can’t have is vigilante action on ships and tours on either side of the argument. Whenever you sail you need to follow the rules of the Captain, he is in charge.

Perhaps but at least you understand the rules now and should plan travel or not accordingly. I am sorry some were under the impression that there would be universal masking and based their decisions on that criteria. I have not received the letter and can’t make a judgement on that. When i booked all my 2022 travel i understood I would have to follow the rules and some of those rules might be unfortunate. That said I only agreed to follow HAL’s rules and no more.

As I said earlier the CDC is establishing rules and masks are not part of that rule. They are at the discretion of the travel company. From reading these boards the last two years I assume most of you have great faith in the CDC following the science , a well loved phrase on these boards.

Oh, ok. Yes on their buses they should follow their rules. I am not a fan of masks but am a firm believer in the no shoes, no service rights of a business on their own property. Let us know how it works out and fingers crossed that the rule changes. One thing that you might consider is doing your own antigen test for the pre cruise testing of that is possible . They are available in drug stores

I must be misreading. You mention eating establishments. That is not an agency relationship, that is a paid service. Law is a fine line. We encountered this on our excursions with another line in Europe. They had simply hired a bus service but did not contract for a period. The bus company and their employees refused to enforce masks that were not mandated by the local government. I understand those who don’t like this but I truly believe travel is always and forever “you are on your own activity”. I guess that attitude comes from years of wilderness travel where you truly are on your own. I am sorry this headache is limiting your enjoyment. Let’s hope you test negative and/or the order is removed this week. I travel again at the end of next week and am holding out on my test to the last minute

In Alaska there is no mask mandate. Holland America cannot enforce rules outside of their own property or property of their contracted agent. It could all be resolved by the CDC removing the testing requirement or the cruise lines leaving the voluntary program

I was texting/chatting with my TA. I mentioned these cancellations. Her HAL rep is in Denali now. Hopefully the rep will check into the current status and report back to us in the next day or so.

Yikes. I sure wish they would make some firm decisions. I have my plans half done but only have a week or so to lock in decent rates for the remainder of the back up travel

I just looked for 11 day tours on the Zuiderdam. If you are taking any of those you may want to take a peak. Many weeks are showing unavailable. Filled to current capacity, canceled or what ?

If you look at the cruise tours you will notice that some weeks are noted as unavailable. I assume those have been or will be canceled. I am going to check mine again now that you reminded me

If a package is canceled it is canceled in full including air fare and hotels.

All in all is the cruise going where you want to go? Is the itinerary somehow superior? Or is this just a budgeting decision?

The drink package does cover coffees, specialty water and teas as well as soda in a can. It also includes the gratuity

Recently some cruises have been slow to add all excursions and historically there can be late additions to the list. If it is important to you book ASAP. Read the fine print carefully but most excursions can be cancelled prior to the cruise with no penalty if you choose another option. reasons people wait: looking for a sale on excursions or on gift cards, waiting to use OBC reason to book early: selling out and in the current environment increased prices. I have seen excursions increase in price recently , I assume for increased transportation costs

Exactly the same except later in August. I have already booked a refundable extra ticket with Southwest to Bellingham and will today be booking a refundable American Airlines ticket from Calgary home plus a few refundable hotel days in Calgary. When I booked RM I was given a provision to move my booking to another year but I have not inquired whether that is still the policy. I think at this point I would rather just do the RM this year anyway even if HAL cancels.

I agree. My anxiety is related to my other plans. I would gladly take the current offer being extended.

You might feel differently in a Pinnacle class inside. We sailed a 12 day inside on the Koningsdam and it ruined insides for us.

That seems unusual. I booked shore excursions last night for my February 2023 cruise. that said, sometimes the shore excursions listings will increase the closer to the cruise. I generally only book excursions prior to cruising which are low capacity, highly popular, must dos and likely to sell out.

No, the airport fees in this situation are very high.

Thank you for the answer. Perfect.

There are rumors that both Canada and the US are going to remove the testing requirement very soon. According to many here on this board their actions align with reality.

I was very clear. 2 issues. Do the reward points reinstate penalty free which actually I was pretty sure of the answer. The 2. Question as bullet pointed in my first post was are they taxes and fees creedite back to my credit card or am I forced to accept a flight credit in lieu of an actual credit card refund. There are most certainly fees, taxes and airport fees. There are always fees